Hunter Cattoor went 7-of-9 from downtown to score 31 points and lead Virginia Tech to a win over Duke. There is a time and a place for it.
Hunter Cattoor was reminded by his Virginia Tech teammates that he was the best shooter in the gym.
He proved them correct on Saturday.
Cattoor made seven 3-pointers and scored 31 points to lead the Hokies to a win over Duke.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said that he had a Klay Thompson night.
Cattoor hit four 3-pointers in the first 13 minutes of the game and then scored nine points in the first 4 minutes, 16 seconds of the second half to help Virginia Tech take a 10 point lead. Duke would not get closer than five the rest of the game.
Cattoor said it was a blur going through it. I imagined moments like this.
Cattoor hit a wall after making more than 40% of his 3-point attempts as a freshman and sophomore and starting off similarly strong as a junior. He has made just 25% of his 3-point attempts over the past 13 games, going 4-for-13 in the first three games of the conference tournament.
He came out on fire on Saturday, consistently getting clean looks against Duke's defense. His teammates knew they had to get him open when the shots were falling.
Senior guard Storm Murphy said it was like he was sitting on the couch. He should get every shot when he is hot. We are talking about continuing to shoot it. He has owned that struggle over the last month. He talked about that. He has embraced it. He has not hid from it. We all told him that he was the best shooter in the gym, and then he popped off like that.
Virginia Tech put on a clinic on Saturday night. The Hokies had five players who could make plays off the dribble and from the perimeter, which made it difficult for Duke to defend. It forced Mark Williams and Theo John to get out of the paint and guard away from the basket. Virginia Tech was able to get open shots on nearly every possession because of their dribble and ball movement.
The Hokies limited their mistakes, turning the ball over just nine times. Duke couldn't keep up with the 10 3-pointers. The Blue Devil were held to seven second-chance points and three fast-break points.
Cattoor had 31 points and Keve Aluma had 19 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven assists.
Duke guard Trevor Keels said that Aluma is a great player. He will get going. He is a great player. You are not going to completely shut him out of the game. He does so much for the team, and he stepped up in big moments.
The Hokies were not guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament even after beating North Carolina and Notre Dame in consecutive days, and they were still not guaranteed a spot in the field before the title game. Virginia Tech is going back to the NCAA tournament.
It seemed like a far-fetched scenario in late January when the Hokies were predicted to be in this position. Virginia Tech has lost three straight games in the conference.
The Hokies have won 13 of their past 15 games, capped by four wins in four days this week in Brooklyn.
Murphy said it was difficult to have that when they were 2-7. It was a dark place. We didn't expect to be there. Our belief never wavered. In the summer, we had more faith in those moments. We continued to grind when it really got real.
Virginia Tech has gone from being.500 in January to the fringes of the NCAA tournament field, and could possibly land in an even better spot than the 10-seed the Hokies received last season.
It takes some time. It might be a failure on my part. Young said that they were more talented than they were playing. That is hard to digest. It would be a beautiful thing when it came together. It came together. I didn't think it would end this way, but here we are and we're not giving it back, I can tell you that.
The Hokies are playing their best basketball of the season at the right time according to Krzyzewski.
He said that they were like a well-oiled machine and that it might not work. They were supposed to be the team at the beginning of the year. They got so close, probably got tougher and built more character. They have played in the last 15 games. They are really good.
The win catapulted Virginia Tech into the NCAA tournament field, but it was also a historic one for the Hokies, who had not won a conference tournament title since 2004. It was their first conference tournament title since 1979 when they were in the Metro Conference.
Young and Cattoor highlighted the significance of the title.
He said that it means a lot for the history of Virginia Tech. Everyone that came through Virginia Tech before, we are doing it for them. It means a lot to be the first ones.
The players and coaches cut the nets on the floor after the game. The players were asked what they were thinking as they climbed the ladder with the scissors.
The first thing that came to my mind wasChamps.
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